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Obama remaking federal judiciary

President Obama has scored his third major judicial confirmation in five weeks, maintaining an effort to remake the federal judiciary. I am pleased that the Senate has confirmed Judge Robert Wilkins to serve

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Obama remaking federal judiciary

In June, President Obama announces the nominations of, from left, Robert Wilkins, Cornelia Pillard and Patricia Ann Millet to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.(Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP)

President Obama has scored his third major judicial confirmation in five weeks, maintaining his effort to remake the federal judiciary.

The Senate on Monday confirmed Robert Wilkins to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which has added three Obama-appointed members since Senate Democrats changed filibuster rules late last year.

They're also additions to a nationwide federal judiciary to which Obama has appointed record numbers of women, African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and gays and lesbians.

"The Senate has confirmed 93 women to the bench during Obama's tenure, compared with 71 during (President) George W. Bush's full two terms. (President) Bill Clinton got the first and only openly gay judge confirmed before 2009. Obama's gotten seven confirmed so far. ...

"Obama has nominated 287 people for the bench and 219 have been confirmed. Of that, he's nominated 122 women and had 93 confirmed, nominated 55 African-Americans and had 41 confirmed, nominated 30 Latinos and had 27 confirmed, nominated 21 Asians and had 16 confirmed, nominated 10 LGBT candidates and had seven confirmed. ..

"The difference from past presidents is stark: Of Obama's nominations, 43 percent have been women, compared with 22 percent for Bush and 29 percent for Clinton.

"The higher numbers hold for other demographics too: 18 percent of Obama's confirmed judges have been African-American, compared with 8 percent for Bush and 16 percent for Clinton; 13 percent have been Latino, compared with 9 percent for Bush and 7 percent for Clinton; 7 percent have been Asian-American and Pacific Islander, compared with 1 percent each for Bush and Clinton."

Here is Obama's statement in full on the Wilkins confirmation:

"I am pleased that the Senate has confirmed Judge Robert Wilkins to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Judge Wilkins spent a decade as a public defender, providing legal representation to individuals who could not afford an attorney, as well as eight years in private practice.

"His accomplishments outside the courtroom include helping to establish the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. In 2010, I nominated Judge Wilkins to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and since being confirmed without opposition by the Senate to that position, he has applied the law with the utmost impartiality and integrity.

"I am confident that he will continue to do so on the D.C. Circuit. Judge Wilkins is the fourth of my nominees to be confirmed to this important court, which now has a full bench to render justice fairly and swiftly."